


Space Brother Matt

by IvorySoda



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Matt is Lance's Space Big Brother, Mentions of Other Voltron Paladins, Self-Harm, mentions of Lance's family - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-30 18:23:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13957359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvorySoda/pseuds/IvorySoda
Summary: Looking back on it now, Matt realized he probably should have knocked.





	Space Brother Matt

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: Self Harm

“Where is that little gremlin?” Matt grumbled and wandered the halls of the castle, searching for his sister in seemingly every single room. He passed the hallway of the paladin’s rooms for the 4th time at least, opening Pidge’s door and peering around, just in case. He closed it when he found nothing and sighed.

 _‘Ugh, sometimes it seems like she can disappear. Maybe she finally added a cloaking ability to her armor. I wouldn’t be surprised, to be honest. Now, where could she be?_ ’ He stopped in the middle of the hallway for a moment, looking around. Shiro, Allura, and Lotor were out on a mission. He, Pidge, Hunk, Coran, and Lance were the only ones in the castle.

“Oh! Hey Matt! What are you doing here?” Matt looked up to find Hunk, smiling.

“I’m looking for the little green goblin. Have you seen it?”

“Oh, Pidge? I…” Hunk paused for a second before shrugging. “I actually don't know. Sorry, man. Lance might know, though. He always seems to keep tabs on us. He’s a good dude, you should try to get to know him more. I’m sure he’d love the company.” Matt shrugged and thanked Hunk, but not before asking him which room was Lance’s. “It’s the door with the blue light. Sorry it’s a bit confusing with the armor and lions and stuff. It’s complicated.” Hunk walked away and Matt looked towards the door with the blue light.  
He didn't really know Lance well, if he was perfectly honest. He had always seen him by himself, training or wandering the castle if not at a meeting. He walked up to the door and touched the panel on the side.

 

Looking back on it now, Matt realized he probably should have knocked.

 

“Hey Lance, have you seen-” Matt’s eyes widened as he took in the scene before him and he failed to find the words to finish his sentence.

Lance was looking up at him with frightened, red, blotchy eyes, tears dripping from his chin. He had a pocket knife ‘ _where did he even get that?!_ ’ in his right hand. His sleeves were pulled up to his shoulders and he was hunched over his left arm.

His left arm.

His left arm was dripping blood down the elbow, from cuts that littered the skin. They ranged from old to fresh, deep to barely scratches.

Matt bit his lip as he heard a whimper, and his brows furrowed. His hand found the pouch attached to his pants and he frantically began opening it, first aid supplies peeking out from the opening.

“Hey, hey, come on kid, let’s get you cleaned up, ‘kay?” Lance’s eyes began to water more and he sniffed. Matt offered a hand to take the knife, which he was handed with no resistance. He put it down on the table next to the bed and offered again for Lance's now free hand. Lance took it, but with hesitation. Matt gave Lance a towel. “Put it under your arm so you don’t make such of a mess. Don’t put it on the cuts or it’ll hurt. Come on.”

Matt led him to the personal bathroom, where he turned the water for the sink on. Lance frowned and bit his lip, staring at the faucet. He held his arm over the sink as Matt took the towel from him again as Lance let the water run down his arm, wincing as it washed the blood away. Matt dug in his pouch and pulled out a wipe and dried off the arm.

“Tell me if it hurts okay? I mean, I know it probably does already but-”

“It doesn’t”

“Huh?” Matt blinked as he heard the first words come out of Lance’s mouth since he had entered the bedroom.

“It doesn’t. Hurt. As much. As it did before.” Lance’s voice trailed off and he looked up at Matt. He looked so broken. “...I’m used to it.” It was barely a whisper, but Matt heard it.

“This might sting a little, but it’ll disinfect it. Kind of sucks how even in space their disinfectants sting. You would think with their technology they would have found a way to prevent that, but no.” Matt took a spray out of the pouch and looked at Lance, who nodded quietly. His tears had dried. Matt spritzed the disinfectant onto the cuts and dug out a bandage.

“How do you usually clean these?”

Lance shrugged. “Water and a bandage.”

“They don't have any first aid kits in these bathrooms?”

“There are only bandages. And wipes, I think. I’ve never asked Coran if there’s anything else to use. I didn't want to bother him.”

"I don't think he would think you were bothersome at all. Coran would be happy to help you." Lance shrugged again.

Matt hummed and wiped at the blood that had recollected at the wounds with the wet wipe before pressing down the bandage. He felt Lance tense up underneath the touch but he didn't say anything. As he wrapped the bandage up he heard a sniff and looked up to find Lance crying again.

“Wh-” he started to speak but was cut off.

“Why?” The teenager in front of him asked softly. “Why are you doing this for me?” He sniffed and his lip trembled as tears rolled down his cheeks.

“Well, first of all, I would never leave someone with an injury without helping them first.” Lance looked down at the finished bandage.

 

_It was blue._

 

“And second?”

“Second…” Matt started, looking him in the eyes, “Well. Look. I know we aren't really close. I haven't really taken the time to get to know you. I should have done so much earlier. But, I do know that Katie looks up to you like an older brother. I see it in the way that you talk to her, and how she talks to you. You love her like I love her. That’s enough for me. You were there for her when I wasn't.” The more he spoke, the wider Lance’s eyes got. “You’re her space brother. By that logic, I’m your brother too, okay? Your space big brother. You can talk to me. I’ll be here for you.” As he finished, Lance covered his face with his hands and sobbed. Matt smiled softly and patted his back.

“I-I-hic- I thought… I thought nobody had noticed…” He cried, “I think of her like my own little siblings. I miss them so much. I miss my whole family so much” Matt held his arms out for a hug, and Lance complied, sobbing onto his shoulder. Matt softly rubbed his back, and felt the boy’s arms tighten.

“You… You hug like Marco…”

“Marco?”

“He’s my older brother…” Lance sniffed. “He used to hug me when I cried, just like this. I used to be a really big crybaby when I was little. He would-” Matt felt him tremble. “He would tell me, ‘Lancito, it’s okay to cry. It doesn't make you weak. In fact, if you can cry, it means you are strong. You are strong enough to not let the emotions tear you down from the inside. To release them.’” He paused and took a trembling breath.

“I don't think I’m as strong as he thought I was.” Matt pulled away from him and looked him in the eye.

“Your brother is right. You’re strong. I’ve seen you. You give so much of yourself to others. You wouldn't blink before you would save anyone on this team, even if it meant you got hurt. You’re strong, Lance. Understood?” Lance bit his lip and nodded. Matt pulled him into another hug.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Wait. What did you come in here for in the first place?” Matt blinked.

“Oh! I was looking for Pidge. I need to talk to her about something I found on the readings we’ve been studying these past few days. It’s not that important.”

“But Pidge is your sister!” Lance balked, guiltily looking at the bandage on his arm. Matt laughed and put a hand on his shoulder.

“And you’re my space brother. I’m going to go find her now. If you need to talk, I’ll be there.”

“Oh, Pidge might be in her room by now. If she’s not she might still be trying to work on Red.”

“Isn’t Red your lion?”

“Yeah, but she’s been trying to see if she can add an individual cloaking to all the lions and decided to start with him, since he’s the most like Green. Red isn't letting her work on anything, unsurprisingly.” Matt hummed and shrugged.

“She can be stubborn sometimes.”

“I mean, she came all the way to space to find you, didn't she?” Lance laughed.

“She did! Man. Well, I’ll talk to you later.” Matt walked out of the bedroom, only to poke his head back in again. “Maybe we can play some Killbot Phantasm later?” He smiled.

“That sounds awesome, man. See you later.”

“See you, Lance.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please tell me if there are any errors! I have no beta, so there might be some. My keyboard is glitchy.
> 
> Also, there's not many details on why Lance self-harms, but I may add something else on Lance and Matt having a talk about that if y'all want it. My writing sucks, so I don't see why you'd want it.


End file.
